Our Journey
by meyizmeh
Summary: This is the Tale of Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke's journey. [Post-war]
1. Land of Snow - Yukigakure

Land of Snow  
Yukigakure  
The Hidden Village of the Land of Snow

The couple passed into the perimeter of the Land of Snow. It was a half mile away from Yukigakure . Sakura was wearing a jacket underneath the red-furred cloak, with a pair of gloves and earmuffs. Sasuke was wearing a black cloak.

They ascended inaudibly and traversed leisurely. Sakura was quite astounded of the vicinity, some trees were ornamented and the whole place was bounded by hails. The road was filled with snow.

She surveyed the area, it's getting late and they were walking for hours now.

"Sasuke-kun?" She broke the silence, it's not like she was uncomfortable, she just had to.

"Hn." Does that mean 'Yes?' 'What?' 'No?' 'You're annoying?' She silently chuckled at her thoughts. Sasuke shot her a look.

"Don't you think it's getting late? Are you hungry?" Sakura suggested, she continued on walking in the same pace with him. Sakura examined his face silently for a minute or two.

"…" She was waiting for his response but he made no answer. She always wondered what's going on his head, for a man of few words like him, she's curious. Like, what's running on his head? what do he want?what if he became Hokage? What if he never left the village in the first place? What if the massacre never happened? She placed her hands inside the pocket on her jacket and took a deep breathe.

"You know, we can take a break for a while…" She murmurs. Sasuke took a side glance at her face, she grinned awkwardly.

"…" For the second time, Sasuke didn't respond. Okay, she's used to it. She faked a cough and sighed. She spotted the gate of Yukigakure which they are heading to. Like the gates of Konoha, the gates of Yuki were also guarded by a Jounin,

Sasuke presented a scroll for the entrance that served as a pass. Well, they can always go through inside without passing the gates but that'll cause trouble, they don't want that.

"Welcome to Yukigakure! Enjoy your-" The three shinobi widened their eyes in shock,

"The heroes from the war! Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke! It was a great pleasure to meet you two! I never thought I would see you both in person!" The one with glasses exclaimed. Sasuke squinted his eyes.

"Sakura-senpai! You look more gorgeous in person! I always admire you for your incredible strength and superb medical skills!" Sakura flashed a smile on the petite jounin with blonde hair, he reminded her of Naruto, what's he doing right now anyway? Must be eating ramen with Hinata, she giggled.

"T-Thank you," She blushed and heard Sasuke scoffed. Sasuke proceeded and left Sakura, her eyebrows furrowed. She mentally sighed.

"Are you here for a mission? The village head will be so glad if he meets you both!" the other jounin professed in delight.

"Ah no… We're just travellers." Sakura shook her head in response. She bowed her head and bid good bye then followed Sasuke who walked off earlier. That was a warm welcome, the town was quite lively than she expected.

She surveyed the surroundings, there are also many travellers like them, she doesn't know where they heading though. He was ahead of her and she's just following him from behind.

"Sasuke-kun, have you been here before?" she murmured. They reached the park, there was a playground and benches, coloured lights and snowman. Sasuke sat on the bench and she sat beside him. She enjoyed the ambience, it was serene.

"Aa." He responded with a nod.

"Oh. I see." She smiled. She wondered, Sasuke must be fond of this place.

"Sasuke-kun? Don't you feel cold? It's freezing in here. Want me to lend you my jacket?"

"…" He noticed that she was watching him for a while. He didn't bother.

"Do you like snow Sasuke-kun?" She got to her feet and lowered herself gather snow in her hand from the ground. She wondered if she can make Sasuke play snowball fight with her. The idea of playing snowball with Sasuke was hilarious. She giggled and shook her head from the thought.

"…" Sasuke raised an eyebrow and took a deep breath.

"Sasuke-kun-" Sakura grasped the snowball and was about to throw it to Sasuke's face.

"Sakura." He grimaced and shot her an annoyed look. She fell silent and so embarrassed,what was she thinking? She bit her lower lip to restrain herself from laughing. Sasuke was glaring.

"Sorry…" She lowered her face awkwardly, she slumped her back to the bench and placed her hands on her lap. They were silent for five minutes straight. She was actually counting, really.

"Let's go get food." He suggested, more like demanded. Sakura stayed silent, she was waiting for him to get on his feet, but she wanted to stay there for a little more, she shrugged. Sasuke noticed that she was uneasy. 'Why?'

"It's getting late." His eyebrows furrowed. He's examining her face, "I know some place to stay." She nodded agreeably, she crossed her arms.

"You're cold." Staring at her, he stated.

"No." Sasuke was about to take off his cloak, she let out a giggle and waved her hands to refuse. He sighed.

"I-I like snow." He murmured. She blinked at his words, she fixed her gazed at Sasuke, then smiled.

"Me too" She moved closer to his side and clutched her arms to his and held his hand, tightly. She rested her head on Sasuke's shoulder.

"I think we should stay here for a while." She closed her eyes and mumbled.

"Right."


	2. Land of Water - Nadeshiko Village

Land of Water  
Nadeshiko Village

"Sakura, wake up." Sasuke took a deep breath, he shook Sakura's shoulder for the nth time. He was getting a hard time to wake her up lately.

They camp out near the borders of Land of Water last night. Sasuke took the first watch and then Sakura. They intended to leave at dawn, the sun is now up.

Sasuke fixed their stuffs and packed their bags. He leaned back on the tree behind him and placed his hand on the pinkette's soft hair. She curled up and unconsciously moved close to embrace him tight. He slightly smiled when he heard her mumbled things.

It was already three months since he came back to Konoha to take her. He was quite surprised from the changes in the village after the war. Everyone is settling down, when he came back to the gates back then, he saw Shikamaru and the Kazekage's sister -Temari, on a date. Well, they were holding hands and so close to each other. They didn't even notice him passed in front of them.

One night in Konoha, he was about to train near the lake, he was taken aback when he caught Sai and Ino cuddling and kissing near the lake. He frowned.

When he was on his way to the Land of Lightning, he also had an encounter with Chouji and Karui – the woman from Kumogakure, he didn't know that they were already married also.

And another one, he met Kiba and Akamaru with a girl named Tamaki, Kiba even introduced the girl to him. Tamaki was one of his fan girl when he was a child. He just nodded uninterestedly.

The dobe married to Hinata, the Hyuga from their class. He always knew that Naruto had a thing for Sakura, he's so dense for not noticing Hinata's feelings for him. He grimaced internally, 'Like I'm the one to talk' He watched Sakura sleeping peacefully, knees curled-up with her arms wrapped around him.

He activated his sharingan when he felt chakra heading in their direction, they were about a kilometer from them,

"Three…kunoichi." He spat in dismay.

"Sakura," He shook her shoulders. He sighed when she slowly opened her eyes and stifled a yawn.

"Oh..Sasuke-kun!" She immediately rose to her feet. The sun is up, she slammed her palm on her wide forehead. She sensed the chakra approaching them, she picked up her bag and noticed that the stuffs were already fixed.

"They're close." Sasuke remarked. She nodded in response. She examined the area, she realized that she's been here before, she didn't noticed last night, it was dark!

This was Nadeshiko Village! She gasped and widened her eyes. She noticed that Sasuke was watching her.

"What?" he asked monotonously.

"Women from this village must find strong men to defeat them, resulting in them being taken to the village to marry the kunoichi they defeated…unless they're already married" She mumbles to herself, Sasuke turned his face to her with a curious look,

"Hn."

"We're near the vicinity of Nadeshiko Village, I was here with Tsunade-shishou and Shizune-san.." She mumbled. She suddenly remembered her experiences, this was where she learned casino and got so drunk for the first time! She suddenly reminded of the red-light district, her face reddened.

He watched her with curiosity.

"Save that for later," Sakura nodded slowly and tightened her grip on her bag.

They masked their chakra and leapt out from the woods. They are avoiding other's company, as much as possible they want to travel in peace. Now they're heading to Nadeshiko Village,

The Nadeshiko Village is more modernized than Konoha, lots of stores, pubs, restaurant and bars along the way. The village was crowded, it seems like they're preparing for festivities.

"There are casinos and gaming clubs, and a newly built Red-light district" He uttered, it's more like a statement than a question. Sakura was quiet and he noticed.

The other restaurants are full and crowded, they had no choice but to eat on a pub for a while. They ate silently but Sakura can't help being annoyed at bottles clanking, loud music, men's cheering, and the women squealing. She overheard from the other table that someone wants to fight Sasuke to be her husband, she scoffed.

He noticed her aggravated face. "Now, tell me" Sasuke demanded, she looked back at Sasuke,

"W-What?," She gulped.

Sasuke's eyes squinted, "Your experience here,"

"Well, last year, Tsunade-shishou and Shizune took a break from the hospital and they insisted me to come on a trip with them,"

She hesitated but she ended up telling him anyway.

They entered the Nadeshiko Village in disguise, Shizune suggested, in case if they got into trouble. Tsunade disguised as a red-head woman, Sakura was a long haired brunette and Shizune was a short-haired blonde.

Shizune and Sakura entered on a casino, they saw Tsunade looking awful. She lost for the 8th time!

"Sakura!" Tsunade lend her a small purse, Sakura looked surprised,

"W-What is this shishou?" Sakura questioned.

"I'm lending you this! Come on enjoy yourself! Lemme teach you," Tsunade exclaimed, Sakura was bored to death so she just followed her master. She doesn't know how to play these machines but the instructions are pretty basic. Tsunade left her to buy boozes.

After 5 hours, "Shannaro!" Sakura grinned, she was on a winning streak and she never left the gaming machine, she now has a sack of coins she got from the machine, she never knew that this was so entertaining as hell!

"Sakura! When did you learn gambling?!" Shizune was surprised when she found Sakura in front of a gaming machine, she was out to handle Tsunade's mess to the other game club,

"Tsunade-shishou taught me the basics!" Sakura beamed and Shizune sighed exasperatedly, Tsunade came back looking terrible,

"Damn, I lost it all." She scowled. She saw Sakura beside a sack of coins, her expression changed suddenly. You can literally see a money sign shining in her eyes.

"Good Job Sakura! As expected of my disciple!" Tsunade pats Sakura, she smiled awkwardly in response.

The village was having a festival, the people are more carefree than usual. There are lot of booths and women are dresses in kimono, there are nin competitions, theater, and even parade. They arrived into a bar and bought bottles of boozes.

"Sakura! Come on drink!" Tsunade was tipsy when she gave Sakura the 10 bottles of boozes. Shizune was nowhere to find, everyone was having fun and she can't just refuse. It was her first time doing such things, she enjoyed this trip. She should've asked the other girls as well, but she suddenly remembered that they are so busy on their lives now but maybe some other time.

"O-Okay shishou!" Sakura gulped it down until she finished them all, one down. Now she was alone, she can't find Tsunade and Shizune inside the bar.

"O-Oh well! Let's have fun y'all!" She stepped in the crowded dance floor and looked like a dancing idiot.

2/10

"Hey pinky, wanna go with me?" The red-head approached her and moved close next to her.

"Wanna go where, pervert?!" She slapped him hard when he was about to touch her ass.

She went out the dance floor and slumped back to her seat.

3/10

"TURN OFF THE MUSIC YOU ASSHOLES!" No one listened to her, no one heard her either. She's already drunk.

4/10

She brought the remaining six bottles with her and went outside, she was tipsy.

"SASUKE-KUN?!" She shouted.

5/10

She reached the way to the Red-light district, she saw Shizune restraining Tsunade from punching those fags. Her head was aching, her surroundings was spinning inside her head.

"Kai! Release!" She thought she was on a genjustu. She saw people walking over her and doesn't seem to care. She reached the bottle and chugged it down.

6/10

"Sakura!" Shizune saw Sakura slumped down near the entrance of the red-light district, "Oh, what am I gonna do with you both." Shizune looked back on Tsunade who was wreaking havoc again, she was so drunk as hell. Poor Shizune.

"S-Shizune-san?" Sakura gaped, her head was still spinning, but she reached the last 3 bottles on her side, she drank it all.

10/10

"SASUKE-KUN?! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO LEAVE, SASUKE-KUN?!" She gathered chakra in her right hand, and slammed it on the ground, she and Tsunade ended up breaking buildings, a lot. And the rest is history.

She bit her lip and examined Sasuke's face, he made no response. She never talked about this dreadful event to anyone. Shizune was tight lipped and Tsunade was being Tsunade. They escaped without difficulty, thanks to Shizune, the life saver. No one knew that the Godaime Hokage and her disciple messed up their pleasant celebration.

"That was awful." Sasuke reclined.

"Y-yeah."

Sasuke faked a cough. "I think we should go now."

"You think so?" She chuckled.


	3. Land of Hot Water - Bamboo Village

Land of Hot Water  
Take no Mura  
Bamboo Village

It was a bright afternoon when the couple exited from the borders of Land of Frost, they are now heading west to Iron Country but before that, they need to pass through Sound Village, Orochimaru's hideout.

Something caught their attention when there was a hawk approaching them. 'A messenger?' Sakura thought. Sasuke took the letter from the hawk messenger. He released the hawk and unsealed the scroll. He squinted his eyes on the familiar bamboo design of the scroll, he examined what was written on the scroll.

"It's for you," Sasuke inquired,

Sakura got curious at Sasuke's bemused face and she turned an eye on the scroll over his shoulder. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

 _'Haruno-san,_

 _I'm Sayo, I was one of the medic you trained from the Bamboo Village. We were so glad to hear that you're currently at the borders of the Land of Frost. We are asking for your great medical assistance in our village, we're currently having a strange epidemic outbreak.'_

They agreed to take a detour and went south to enter the borders of the Land of Hot Water, the vicinity was getting dusky and the ground was damp, they are now surrounded by forest of bamboos. They were approached by civilian guards from the town gates and escorted them to the infirmary. They encountered some people along the way greeting them,

Sakura grimaced when she saw the number of people in the quarantine, there are almost 30 patients in the isolation room, they look like corpse in a bed but she can feel that they are still alive.

"They looked terrible," She cried out, Sasuke admitted with a slow nod.

"Haruno-san!" Sayo and the two other medics approached them with a small beam, they looked exhausted, looks like they haven't got enough sleep from their weary expressions.

"I'm Sayo, the head of infirmary, this is Kozuki and Megumi," They bowed their heads and felt embarrassed when they saw Sasuke.

"Oh my, Haruno-san! I never knew you and U-Uchiha Sasuke-!" Sayo exclaimed, the villager admired Sasuke a lot, he saved their village once from Karyu from the Dark Thunder Group and the exploding humans.

Sakura flinched and felt her cheeks reddened, "He's my teammate and…travelling companion." She uttered and took a side glance to Sasuke, he was straight-faced.

"Eh? I was told that you were travelling with someone for months now, are you two really not dati-"

"What's the situation here?" Sakura cut her off before finishing her sentence. Sayo was taken aback, her bothered and uneasy expression returned.

"It's been a week now…we hear them suddenly screaming, vomiting and collapsing afterwards, it only happens when midnight" Megumi stated,

"Who are the attackers? What method did they use?" Sakura asked.

"We took the watch in the 3rd night and observed that there was no attacker because they just collapsed out of the blue, it was no poison also, we had 45 casualty in the 4th night and now we lost 12 of them, it seems that their chakras are sucked out to death," Sayo stated glumly. She led the couple inside the quarantine to check on the patients,

Sasuke silently activated his sharingan to see if some string were connected to the patients, but there was none. But there was something odd with their chakras. Sakura shot him a questioning look and he shook his head as response.

She took a deep breath, she placed her hand on top of the head of one of the patients. Her hand started to glow with green chakra, she was startled when she felt an absorbing power extracting her chakra out instantly, her face was blank and Sasuke felt something was off, he pulled her immediately and she was still in the state of shock.

"T-Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she stuttered, her head was spinning and she was about to fall when Sasuke caught her. She almost lost her consciousness,

"What happened Haruno-san? What are you feeling?" Sayo approached her with a troubled face,

She pressed her temples with her finger, "The symptoms. I had the urge to scream, I feel like vomiting, I almost collapsed. I nearly lost my mind,"

As Sasuke suspected, he noticed it the moment Sakura's face fell blank, "It's a type of ninjutsu," he stated.

"Ninjutsu?" Sayo gasped, "How Uchiha-san?"

He fixed his gaze on Sakura's questioning look, "An Aburame clan technique to be precise," he muttered

Sakura's eyes squinted, "Insects, Parasites…" Sakura immediately pulled out a kunai and threw it to Sasuke's, he swiftly caught in when he held the woman beside Megumi, he pointed the kunai to her throat,

"Don't move, Aburame.." Sasuke paused, "Kozuki," Kozuki widened her eyes,

"W-When did you-" She tried to resist but it was too late, Sasuke put her already on a genjutsu,

It finished swiftly, the moment Kozuki lost consciousness, the parasites got deactivated, Sakura and the others removed the insect that were placed in their throat and they healed them afterwards, the Land of Hot Water was known for the spring water itself, it has high medicinal quality from its mineral content, it only takes a matter of time for them to heal completely.

They're lucky they were able to catch Kozuki before she made move,that would cause great trouble for them. Kozuki was brought in custody to the neighboring country, Land of Frost.

Kozuki's motive for doing such felony is revenge, she was driven by hatred, her family was killed by people from the Chinoike clan, she wants to do the same for others as well. She's an Aburame but she's not exactly related to Shino.

Sayo was so grateful to Sakura and Sasuke, she even asked them to take a holiday in Valley of Hell, which is also located in the Land of the Hot Water. Few years after the war, Oyashiro, a member of the Chinoike clan, turned the Valley of Hell into a hotspring resort.

Sakura refused politely, she told her that they may come back next time because they still have errands to do in the Iron Country. Sayo insisted they should leave at dawn and she brought them in the best inn in the village.

Sasuke told her about Shino, the Chinoike Clan's doujutsu and the exploding humans and also how he asked Orochimaru's help back then. Sakura was surprised, this was the first time Sasuke talked about his experiences in his atonements. Sasuke was now opening up to her. She smiled at her thought.

Sakura wrapped her arms to Sasuke and played his hair teasingly, it became a habit of her.

Sasuke fixed his gaze on Sakura's, "What was I again? A teammate and travelling companion?"

"W-Well, those girls obviously likes you," She mumbles, she intertwined her fingers with his.

He closed his eyes and slumped back comfortably, "You were careless earlier, Sakura." He whispered.

"Hmm?" She kissed his temple lightly. Sasuke sighed and stared at her, "Hn."

Sakura blinked unknowingly, "W-What? Why?"

He pulled her closer to him and sealed her lips with a kiss, "Whatever."


End file.
